Airlines have ‘right to reject’ passengers: Praful Patel

Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel (File)

Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on Thursday said airlines have a “right to reject” passengers, as he wondered over the delay in action on an FIR against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad for assaulting an Air India official. “There may not be a law (for fly ban) but you see when we go to a hotel, there is board ‘admission right reserved’… So the same way airline is no different from a hotel or a restaurant,” he said outside the Parliament. Noting that “these are scheduled airlines”, the NCP leader said they do have “more official rights to reject” the passengers. Raising questions over delay in action on the FIR filed agaist Gaikwad, he said, “Nobody seems to know (why this delay). It doesn’t take so many days to act on an FIR.”

On the chaos over the issue in Lok Sabha on Thursday with Shiv Sena MPs surrounding Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju,, Patel said, “The Speaker of the House has the entire authority to take action against errant MPs…what note has been taken (of the chaos?).” On the Shiv Sena’s alleged threat of stalling Air India’s operations from Mumbai and Pune airports, Patel said it was a wish “too tall” as the central and state governments have enough resources to deal with such threats.

“Most importantly, they (state and central governments) should ensure that not a single passenger is inconvenienced (and) there lies the test,” he said.